Both the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators are weak in defence, both at even strength and when shorthanded, but they compensate for this with strong attacking numbers.
Ottawa Senators
Only one of the Senators' last five games has been low-scoring. They finished their Western road trip with a defeat against the struggling Vancouver Canucks (0:2). There were plenty of goals in the others; even the game against the Calgary Flames looks acceptable by comparison (4:1). Although they are currently outside the play-off positions, no one has managed to beat them easily since February: over their last 10 games they have suffered only one defeat in regulation, and even that was by a single goal against the Metropolitan Division leaders, the Carolina Hurricanes (3:4).
Montreal Canadiens
For the Canadiens, the situation is similar. After nine consecutive games in which the total went over 5.5 goals, they slowed down a little against the Toronto Maple Leafs but still beat them (3:1). During that high-scoring run they rarely lost; in regulation time they were beaten only on the road by the San Jose Sharks (5:7). In that stretch they did not score fewer than three goals in a game, which is hardly surprising from the league’s third-best attack, averaging 3.54 goals per game.
Ottawa Senators vs Montreal Canadiens Prediction
Because both teams hardly ever lose in regulation, we will avoid backing either side, while the over 6 goals looks like a clear option even in spite of their recent low-scoring games.
Their head-to-head meetings this season have all been high-scoring: all three have cleared the 6.5-goal line.
We will take a middle ground and choose the over 6 goals.
